Catálogo de publicaciones - libros

This chapter explores the magnitude of the changes in patterns of material use that will be associated with the increasing deployment of renewable energy and discusses the implications for sustainable development. In particular, this chapter focuses on the increased use of lithium and cobalt, metals which are used extensively in battery technologies, and silver used in solar cells. Consistent with the strong growth in renewable energy and electrification of the transport system required in a 1.5°C scenario, the material requirements also rise dramatically, particularly for cobalt and lithium. Scenarios developed for this study show that increasing recycling rates and material efficiency can significantly reduce primary demand for metals.

This section provides a summary of the implications of the developed 2.0 °C and 1.5 °C scenarios for global mean climate change. Specifically, we consider atmospheric CO concentrations, radiative forcing, global-mean surface air temperatures and sea level rise.

The following section focuses on the main findings in all parts of the research, with priority given to high-level lessons, to avoid the repetition of previous chapters. The key findings as well as the research limitations and further research requirements are given for following topics:

Renewable energy potential mapping, Transport scenario and long-term energy scenario development, power sector analysis, employment and mineral resource implications for the 2.0C and 1.5C scenarios and non-energy GHG scenarios,

Policy recommendations for the energy sector with a focus on policies for buildings sector decarbonisation, for the transport and industry sector as well as a recommended political framework for power markets are provided.